The global cost of carbon emissions could be almost four times higher than currently calculated, according to a study published Thursday, the conclusion of which could help accelerate the ecological transition.
The study, published in the journal Nature, analyzes the “social cost of carbon”, a method which compiles the negative effects (health, economic, etc.) of the emission into the atmosphere of a ton of CO2, a greenhouse gases resulting from human activity and responsible for global warming. In particular, it makes it possible to assess the difference between this cost and the expenses to avoid releasing this ton of CO2 and makes it possible, for example, to assess the amounts of measures such as the carbon tax.
Most players in the fight against climate change agree on the importance of pricing greenhouse gas emissions to accelerate their reduction. Last year, a group of experts commissioned by the American administration had evaluated this “social cost of carbon” at 51 dollars per ton, while acknowledging that this figure was undoubtedly underestimated. According to the study published Thursday by a group of climate experts and economists, based in particular on modeling in the two fields, the real cost per ton would in fact be 185 dollars.
The results lead to “a complete revision” of the bases currently used by the American administration, underlines the principal author of the study Kevin Rennert, of the center Resources for the Future, based in Washington. The main sectors where the cost has been revised upwards are health, to better take into account “the rise in mortality rates due to rising temperatures, and the impacts on the agricultural sector”, he said. he told AFP.
The study, published in the journal Nature, analyzes the “social cost of carbon”, a method which compiles the negative effects (health, economic, etc.) of the emission into the atmosphere of a ton of CO2, a greenhouse gases resulting from human activity and responsible for global warming. In particular, it makes it possible to assess the difference between this cost and the expenses to avoid releasing this ton of CO2 and makes it possible, for example, to assess the amounts of measures such as the carbon tax. Most players in the fight against climate change agree on the importance of pricing greenhouse gas emissions to accelerate their reduction. Last year, a group of experts commissioned by the American administration had evaluated this “social cost of carbon” at 51 dollars per ton, while acknowledging that this figure was undoubtedly underestimated. According to the study published Thursday by a group of climate experts and economists, based in particular on modeling in the two fields, the real cost per ton would in fact be 185 dollars. The results lead to “a complete revision “bases currently used by the US administration,” said lead author Kevin Rennert of the Washington-based Resources for the Future center. The main sectors where the cost has been revised upwards are health, to better take into account “the rise in mortality rates due to rising temperatures, and the impacts on the agricultural sector”, he said. he told AFP.
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